Evolving Threat

Analysts at the National Counterterrorism Center say the terrorist threat to America is becoming more decentralized and less deadly. But the terrorists are also harder to find and their plots are easier to replicate. "There's some real atomization underway," a U.S. counterterrorism official said. "You have franchises that are working independent of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, and those franchises have shown the ability to conduct highly effective, highly lethal operations in their own countries and regions."